


The Evening News

by Eastling (Annwyd)



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: #BuckyNat Week, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, First Dates, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-03-19
Packaged: 2018-03-18 15:05:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3574157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annwyd/pseuds/Eastling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They'd miss dinner if they didn't stop here, and that's all there is to it. It's nothing special, and that's why it's special.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Evening News

A week after Natasha moves into his apartment, he meets her on his way home for the night. It's not that they planned it, and it's not that she left the apartment just to greet him. They both have their own lives and their own busy days, and her path home from hers happens to intersect his path home from his just this once.

When she sees him coming down the block, she stops outside a small cheap restaurant. The sun has almost set, so it's the yellow light from inside the little pizzeria that illuminates her. There's a sign saying _WEEKDAY DEAL $5 2 SLICES AND A SODA!!_ and then there's Natalia Alianovna Romanova standing in front of it just as if she's a normal part of the world through which he walks.

"Hey, stranger," Bucky says as he approaches her, and then he makes a show of trying to walk right past her.

She grabs his wrist. "Hello, James. Planning on skipping dinner tonight?"

He stops. "What?"

"Because someone forgot to pick up groceries yesterday," she says.

He stares at her, and for an instant his head starts to swim because his brain might have liquefied. All those words make perfect sense on their own, but how is he hearing them out of her mouth? He's kissed that mouth in secret corners while their pulses raced like starships. Now he hears her talking about picking up groceries. But her hand is warm on his arm, so this is real. His thoughts settle once more, though his heart feels lighter and brighter than ever. "Sorry," he says. "Twenty-first century supermarkets are a bigger challenge than Skrulls."

"Oh, please," she says. "Fix that tomorrow, all right?"

"Sure," he says. "What about tonight?"

Natasha gestures at the sign by her feet.

He makes a face. "Is that really a deal?"

"You've had enough time to get used to today's prices, James," she says, and she pulls him through the door of the pizzeria.

It's small, but there are only a couple of other patrons right now, so there's no worry about space. Bucky claims two seats at the counter along one wall, and he watches Natasha as she orders. She smiles as the employee taking her order asks her about the weather. Did she smile so much when he first saw her in this day and age? That's hard to answer, considering the circumstances, so he puts the thought out of his head.

"What are you grinning at?" she asks as she makes her way to the counter along the wall, deftly bearing their pizza and their sodas.

"Me?" He didn't realize he was grinning in the first place, so he has to come up with a joke to explain it quickly. "I was thinking about how I'm going to distract you with my charming smile and then steal one of your slices."

"You just blew it," she says as she sits down. "Now I'm on guard."

"Damn." He starts on his pizza; it's not that great, but it's enough that he actually tastes it. He'll clean the grease off his gloves later. After he finishes the first slice, something occurs to him. "You forgot napkins."

"That was supposed to be your job," she says.

"Oh." He looks at her again. "Uh..."

She raises an eyebrow.

"You've got sauce on your nose," he says. He can't take his eyes off the sight. She looks ridiculous. She looks perfect.

"It's a shame we don't have napkins, then."

"We'll make do," he says. "Come here--" He takes her by the shoulder, leans in, and licks her nose.

She bursts out laughing. "James, really!"

"There, I made up for where I went wrong," he says.

She tilts her head a little as she looks at him, her smile suddenly almost serious.

"Don't get your hair in the food," is all he can think to say. "I'm not gonna lick _that_."

"No," she agrees. "That's not a good first-date activity."

He's sitting on a stool but he still feels like his feet go out from under him. It's like when she said _groceries_ but worse. "First-date activity?"

Now her smile is smug. She goes back to eating her pizza. "That's what this is, you know. Our first date."

"Oh," he says. "Wasn't that supposed to be under the stars, or on a beautiful beach?" There are rarely stars visible in the city, and the beaches are crowded.

"Nope," she says. "This is fine. Finish your pizza."

He can't really find a problem with that, so he picks up the remaining slice and starts eating once more.


End file.
